In the use of diesel fuels in diesel engines, the fuels degradation products will build up on metal surfaces and will clog the injectors of the diesel engines.
When diesel fuel injectors become clogged or develop deposits, the spray of the fuel into the combustion chamber is not uniform and/or atomized properly, resulting in poor combustion, increased exhaust emissions and smoke and degraded fuel economy and power. Eventually, these deposits build up to the point which would require replacement or some special maintenance. In extreme cases, irregular combustion could cause hot spots on the piston which have resulted in total engine failure requiring a complete engine overhaul or replacement.
Since there has been a need for making certain that diesel fuel injectors are clean during operation of the diesel engines, several additives and filters have been developed to clean diesel fuel injectors.
According to the present invention, it has been found that a gasoline cleaning additive described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,041 is also an excellent cleaning additive for diesel fuels since it prevents diesel fuel injectors from clogging. This result was unexpected since it was not thought that the cleaning additive in the gasoline detergent would be sufficiently thermally stable to withstand the high temperatures found at the fuel injector tips of the diesel engine. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for keeping diesel fuel injectors clean.